The Inside Story from Italian Wine Merchants

The Flavors of (Some) Italian Varietals

Posted on | March 19, 2010 | Written by Will Di Nunzio | 2 Comments

It seems to me that when you buy wine in a wine shop, go to a wine bar for a 5 o’clock happy hour, or get a bottle while dining at your favorite restaurant, the very first thing that the sales associate, bartender, sommelier or waiter will talk about is the flavors—and the aromas—of the chosen wine.

Without a doubt, there is a connection between grape varietal and aroma. You can always expect to find specific scents in specific wines based on their varietals and their blends, but the truth of the matter is what you get from a wine is a very personal matter and changes from both individual person to individual person and estate to estate. As difficult as it is to get ten people to agree on a place to have dinner in New York City that they all like, it’s difficult to get those same people not only to agree on all liking the same wine, but liking the same thing about it. However, as much as it may be difficult for people to agree on how to describe wines, there are qualities we can generally attribute to specific grapes.

The fun thing about wine drinking in the 21st century is that the market understands the concept of individual experience, so you can express yourself any way you want. From saying “it tastes like shoe polish” to “there are notes of tar” is perfectly normal. It’s not that you take a spoon full of shoe polish with your morning coffee and then take a dive in a vat of tar every time you walk pass a “Road Work Ahead” sign, but as our own Christy Canterbury has pointed out, taste is smell so you’re not necessarily tasting but smelling.

In wine tasting as much as everything else, practice makes perfect. If to you a wine tastes like toasted maple leaf, perhaps it does, but maybe you really want to make sure. You might want to practice tasting wine at home with some dried fruit and nuts to help you taste the corresponding flavors of your favorite wines. It is easier to make comparisons if you have both things you’re comparing. Do it enough, and you’ll be able to do it by scent alone. It’s a lot of fun when you can recognize wines by their smell alone—practice at home, give it a shot, and impress your friends at parties.

While smell and taste are highly personal, you can expect some specific flavor profiles with specific varietals. To help you out in your quest to master your next favorite party trick, here are the basic flavors to look for in some popular Italian varietals:

Sangiovese (Toscana): Dried flowers, berries like blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, or strawberry. You’ll find a really nice example in the 2006 Fontodi Chianti Classico.

Nebbiolo (Piemonte): Cherry and other dark fruit (like dried cranberries) or tar and rose petal, but please do not have a wine, tar and rose petal tasting! I would try the De Forville Nebbiolo 2007 or Massolino’s 2004 Barolo for some great aroma and flavor representation.

Nero d’Avola (Sicilia): This is one of my personal favorites. You can find many flavors; look for black cherry, plum, vanilla, tobacco and licorice. My Nero d’Avola go-to since I started at IWM has been il Moro by Valle Dell’Acate. The 2006 is great.

Palagrello Bianco (Campania): Orange blossoms, pears and peaches—grab some juicy pears and peaches and open a bottle of Alois Caiati 2005 or Vestini Campagnano 2004. I’d thrown in a couple of pieces of Reggiano while you’re at it just to complete the experience.

Pigato (white, Liguria): I love this wine! Look for apricot, peach and herbs. Both the 2008 U Baccan by Bruna and the Bisson 2007 are exceptional wines and will help you to understand this varietal.

Cortese (white, Piemonte): This is your Gavi’s varietal. Look for white flowers, white fruit like peaches, pears and apples.  I would give the Ca’ dei Mandorli a shot, a wine that dips under the radar but really shows what Cortese is about.

And for those of you who have mastered the art of the nose, what are your favorite scentastic wines? What profiles can you detect and in conjunction with which varietals?

Category: Italian Wine Merchants
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Comments

2 Responses to “The Flavors of (Some) Italian Varietals”

  1. David
    March 19th, 2010 @ 6:55 pm

    Great post. Like the idea of balancing the 21st C idea that there’s not just one right taste, but that doesn’t mean anything goes.

    Hmm, for “scentastic” wines I think of the Southern French wines with “garrigue” conjuring up herbs like sage or tarragon.

  2. uberVU - social comments
    March 26th, 2010 @ 11:06 pm

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by cookingchat: @pairingsFW Thought you’d like this post, from @inside_iwm great source 4 Italian wine info (and wines of course) http://bit.ly/9Av1w0...

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